8 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2023
  2. Mar 2022
    1. during the First Temple period: the Hebrew Bible tells of numerous places of worship dedicated to Yahweh outside Jerusalem, including those founded by Joshua (Joshua 8:30), “the people” (Judges 21:4), Samuel (I Samuel 7:17), King Saul (I Samuel 14:35), King Jeroboam (I Kings 12:26-33), David (II Samuel 24:25), and Elijah (I Kings 18:32).
    1. https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium.MAGAZINE-when-the-jews-believed-in-other-gods-1.6315810

      References to other Semitic gods in the Old Testament. Some general basics which will require some delving into translations and further research for stronger foundations in early Semitic religions.

    2. The historic books of the Bible were written by a “Yahweh only party” and are thus keenly critical of the worship of other gods in Judah. Still, it is clear from their description that polytheism was the norm in the First Temple period. It was only during King Josiah’s reform that the "Yahweh only party" really took control and began pushing other gods out of Judean minds.

      Polytheism was the cultural norm during the First Temple period. It wasn't until the reforms of King Josiah described in 2 Kings in the second half of the 7th century BCE that other Semitic gods were actively removed from the Temple and parts of culture in favor of Yahweh.

    3. In this ancient text, we can see that El and Yahweh were still perceived as being two separate deities, with Yahweh subordinate to El. But as time went by, El and Yahweh became conflated: the two deities began to be seen as one and the same.In Exodus 6:3 God tells Moses: "I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty (El Elyon), but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." Thus the ancients only knew God as El, but as time went by they discovered that El was just another name of Yahweh.

      In Deuteronomy 32 the gods El and Yahweh are separate deities which, over time, became conflated into one god as indicated in Exodus 6:3.

    4. It seems that what this story and other biblical stories like it are telling is that the belief in Yahweh supplanted the worship of Ba’al. In fact it seems that in some ways, Yahweh subsumed Ba’al, taking on his attributes and powers.In some of the Bible’s more poetic texts, Yahweh is presented as a storm god in very much the same language that Ba’al is described:“At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them” (Psalms 18:12-14).

      Biblical passages like Psalms 18:12-24 may be indicative of Yahweh subsuming the powers and attributes of other regional gods like Ba'al.

      This makes one wonder if Yahweh evolved from other cultures into the one true god of the Hebrews?

  3. Sep 2020
    1. The answer is that they were two different “Yahweh’s.”

      OK. I'm trying to work with this. I feel like I've been on the edge of revelation concerning this for quite a while.

      • Wouldn't the 1st encounter w/ a negative entity be in Genesis (Specifically because of all the killing and wars and Gen 6 account)
      • Was the serpent a negative entity????
  4. Aug 2018
    1. the Serpent, or rather Satan in the Serpent; who revolting from God,

      I'm wondering where and when this association between the Serpent and Satan started. It's not in the Bible. (And according to the Gnostic texts, the Serpent was sent by the Mother Goddess to help restore the male/female harmony that Yahweh disavowed). Milton probably doesn't address this, but it's crucial to my own reading of the text, since I don't support that association and want to know at least what Milton's source is.